Hidden Gems: Meet Melody Jensen of The Wave Pilates and Wellness Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melody Jensen.

Hi Melody, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
From the time I took my first Pilates class almost 2 decades ago, I fell in love with the practice and the movement and how it felt in my body and mind so much that I knew I’d teach it someday soon. In college, I studied leadership and communications and I worked for the national FFA organization as a leadership presenter and trainer. I lived in DC and traveled the country organizing and presenting leadership conferences for thousands of high school students so when I began teaching Pilates over 18 years ago, it was important to me to do it in an impactful, meaningful way. In 2015, my husband and at the time, our 4 kiddos moved from the Bay Area to northern Utah for my husband’s job. For me personally, it was a very hard move. I loved living near the ocean and our life in California and I started struggling with my mental health. It was quite the journey, including very adverse reactions caused by medications that after several years got so horrendous, I almost didn’t make it but was finally able to realize the medication was wrecking havoc in my brain. My husband, who’s been my hero has been walking side by side with me through detoxing, therapy, healing in so many different ways and through this journey, teaching and practicing Pilates, movement, breathing, community has been so significant and helpful. It has also taught us that healing is something we all need to go through continuously as we get to grow through life, it is a gift and most importantly is possible and ongoing. We have also gained so much understanding, concern and empathy for others going through difficult experiences whether that be mental health struggles, abuse, addiction, loss, trauma, etc. In a nutshell, this explains why, at The Wave we are so passionate about making the practice of Pilates (and Yoga, Barre, Dance, Sound bath and breath work meditations) so intentional, compassionate and community based. The name, The Wave represents the waves we all get to face in life. Sometimes, these waves are fun, easy and enjoyable and sometimes these waves can feel so heavy, scary and insurmountable so our mission and hope at The Wave is to encourage and inspire the importance of taking really good compassionate care of ourselves and to learn how to breathe through the waves of life.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I remember driving by the old dilapidated Potato barn (built in 1968) in Gilbert, AZ and thinking that would be such a cool building renovated and then one day, I drove past it and was so excited to see that the exterior has been beautifully renovated and that space inside was available to lease. Around the same time, the nudge came to open a unique Pilates and Wellness studio and I felt a very strong, special draw to this space. When we put in our initial offer, they decided to move with another company who wanted to rent the entire half of the building that was available (we were only seeking to rent 1/4 of the space which is 2, 400 square feet). I felt peace about it and still had a strong feeling that if/when we opened The Wave that it would be there. We casually considered other options but nothing felt right and after about 3 or 4 months, I had the nudge to reach out about the space and was told it had just became available and if we were still interested that they were ready to move forward. It was not an easy road, there were so many significant delays in the construction process of turning this old potato barn (which still had dirt floors and graffiti all over the interior walls) into the beautiful, light filled space envisioned. We were originally under the impression we’d get into the space by June of 2023 and after so many delays, set backs and stressful moments and lots of tears and anxiety, we finally got the final permits approved and got in on January 12th and within 72 hours got the space ready enough to be able to open the doors and start our first Pilates class at 6 a.m. on Monday, January 15th which happened to Martin Luther King, Jr Day who is one of my personal favorite heroes. That day, I taught 6 full Pilates classes and at the beginning, we breathed and meditated to the first few minutes of MLK’s I have a dream! speech. It has definitely not been an easy road since being open and we have learned and grown a LOT through it all, had many sleepless nights and tears, but we are so fortunate to have an amazing team of instructors and the biggest blessing of a kind, compassionate community of humans that we feel so honored and grateful to get to know, love, support and cheer on.

We’ve been impressed with The Wave Pilates and Wellness Studio, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We offer reformer, mat and stretch Pilates classes, a variety of Yoga, Barre, Sound bath meditations, breath work and ballroom dance classes and more. We are passionate about healing, growth, strength, compassion and community. We hope that people walk in and feel welcomed as they are, inspired to take great care of themselves and each other and know that life is a beautiful (and sometimes challenging) journey and gift and their body, mind and spirit is absolutely incredible and worth taking great care of.

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
It is diverse and community driven with people from a variety of places and backgrounds and so many kind, creative, dedicated to making our community better individuals. It is also beautiful with so many places nearby to be outdoors enjoying beautiful desert scenery. Winters here are spectacular! The least? The summertime over 100 degree days, especially come August and September…hello, heated mat Pilates! Lol!

Pricing:

• Taking great care of our own
• Health, Strength and Wellness
• is one of the most
• important investments
• we’ll ever make.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewavepilates.com
• Instagram: @thewavepilates
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewavepilates
• Other: hello@thewavepilates.com

Image Credits
Erin Eileen Photography